WEBVTT - 2-12-26 Sloan with Denise Driehaus 0:00:00.240 --> 0:00:05.640 Scott's loan return. You're seven hundred WL. Here we go 0:00:05.720 --> 0:00:08.560 back half the week. We are good, sew. Here's what 0:00:08.640 --> 0:00:14.680 you need to know. Pharmaceuticals very expensive, especially insulin. If 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:17.680 you are on insulin, you know how expensive that is. 0:00:18.440 --> 0:00:22.079 And the Federal Trade Commission a number of states and cities, 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:26.479 and now Hamilton County, Ohio suing three pharmacy benefit managers 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:30.040 at ECBs, care Mark, Express Scripts and optim Rx, as 0:00:30.040 --> 0:00:36.200 well as Eli, Lilly, Novo, Nordisk, and another manufacture, and 0:00:36.440 --> 0:00:38.720 those comprise about ninety six ninety seven percent of the 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.239 insulin market. And the reason they're suing them is for 0:00:41.360 --> 0:00:44.800 allegedly fixing insulin and diabetes drug prices. So right now, 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:46.720 if you look at the cost it what have cost them? 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:49.080 Because about now less than are around two dollars a 0:00:49.120 --> 0:00:53.280 vile to make that sells for literally hundreds of times 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:56.160 that we're talking one to three hundred times what the 0:00:56.200 --> 0:01:00.319 cost is. And the suit alleges illegal price manipulation on 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:03.680 this is County Commissioner Denise Treehouse. Welcome back to the show, Denise. 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:04.080 How are you. 0:01:05.319 --> 0:01:07.160 I'm good, good morning, Scott. 0:01:06.880 --> 0:01:09.520 Good Mark. You seem healthy. I'm healthy in this regard. 0:01:09.560 --> 0:01:11.759 I am not on insulin, and I also don't think 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:14.800 I have anyone of my immediate family on insulin. But 0:01:14.880 --> 0:01:15.959 I hear the horror stories. 0:01:17.480 --> 0:01:19.800 Oh, there are many, many people that use insulin. It's 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.759 a life saving drugs. And in Hamilton County we've got 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:26.280 about eighty eight hundred county employees and family members that 0:01:26.400 --> 0:01:27.640 use insulin, and that. 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:33.400 I believe is the highest drug category for coverage, right, yeah, yeah. 0:01:33.440 --> 0:01:37.760 Fromenty twenty three to twenty twenty five, this diabetes medication 0:01:38.240 --> 0:01:41.080 was the single highest cost prescription drug category for the county. 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:43.880 Okay, So what triggered the county to jump in this lawsuit? 0:01:43.920 --> 0:01:44.080 Now? 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:47.240 Was there a particular spiking costs complaints from employees or 0:01:47.560 --> 0:01:50.920 was it because the FTC settled with Express Scripts and said, hey, 0:01:50.920 --> 0:01:54.600 there's an opportunity here to go after the other pharmacy 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:57.280 benefit managers and certainly the drug manufacturers. 0:01:58.080 --> 0:02:01.480 Well, prosecutor pillage this to our attention, to be fair, 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.200 I didn't. This wasn't my idea, although I love the 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:09.679 idea because other communities, as you just said, were waging lawsuits. 0:02:09.720 --> 0:02:13.119 They're about five hundred and fifty other entities, whether they're 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:17.320 state cities, health plans and so they are, you know, 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:19.359 weighing in on this, and we didn't want to miss 0:02:19.400 --> 0:02:21.840 the boat. It kind of reminds me of the opioid 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:26.359 settlements where we were chewing and then we joined others 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:29.639 in that lawsuit to bring some resources down to Hamilton County. 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:32.280 All right, No, that makes sense. I know that the 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:34.880 defendants here in this is in case the companies point 0:02:34.919 --> 0:02:37.960 out that previous insulin pricing cases have been dropped or 0:02:37.960 --> 0:02:40.799 lost or settled for no money. What makes you think 0:02:40.840 --> 0:02:43.080 this time is the magic charm, the magic bullet in 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:45.680 Hamlin County and the other areas of successful days. 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:49.560 Well, first of all, we're not paying anything upfront to 0:02:49.840 --> 0:02:53.639 wage the lawsuit because we only pay if we win, 0:02:53.880 --> 0:02:56.839 and so much like the opioid settlement, right, so we're 0:02:56.880 --> 0:03:01.280 not no money lost to hear. But also what we 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.000 know is that, as you said, the cost of insulin 0:03:04.120 --> 0:03:07.760 is skyrocketed, but the cost to produce insulin has gone down, 0:03:08.320 --> 0:03:10.880 and so we are waging that they are colluding. They 0:03:10.960 --> 0:03:14.720 are it's false price fixing, and so that's what we're 0:03:14.720 --> 0:03:16.560 saying in the lawsuit. And I think we've got a 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:19.600 really good case in winning, as do five hundred and 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:21.160 forty nine other jurisdiction. 0:03:22.000 --> 0:03:24.239 Yeah, in the drug manufacturer as they say that the 0:03:24.320 --> 0:03:26.720 out of pocket costs are pretty low. Lily's been claiming listen, 0:03:26.760 --> 0:03:29.160 it's like less than fifteen bucks a month on average. 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.480 So if the math mass there, if employees aren't paying 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.240 hundreds of per mile out of pocket, who's actually bearing 0:03:35.280 --> 0:03:37.920 the inflated costs? That's the big question is taxpayers to 0:03:38.040 --> 0:03:40.240 the county plan And that's why the county's evolved because 0:03:40.240 --> 0:03:41.160 this is taxpayer money. 0:03:42.440 --> 0:03:46.840 Well, we're paying thirteen million dollars for insulin coverage for 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:49.040 the county. That's a lot of money. And if we 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:52.640 can reduce that cost because we don't have these folks 0:03:52.640 --> 0:03:56.160 colluding about price fixing, then we reduce the cost to 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:59.360 the county, and that translates the cost savings for. 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.040 The tax payers. The PBMs argue that they're actually the counterweight, 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:06.160 that they balance pharmaceutical the pharmaceutical monopoly with this and 0:04:06.160 --> 0:04:08.480 that they can negotiate down prices. You how would you 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:09.960 respond to that? Why they included in the suit? 0:04:09.960 --> 0:04:14.560 Then well, that's that's a question for the prosecutor. I mean, 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.599 I'm not an attorney, and I don't pretend to be one, 0:04:17.080 --> 0:04:17.719 but the process. 0:04:17.800 --> 0:04:20.400 That's why I like you, Denise, That's why we like you. 0:04:21.400 --> 0:04:25.640 Yeah, I only say what I know. But Connie and 0:04:25.720 --> 0:04:29.080 her team have identified the as you say, the drug 0:04:29.120 --> 0:04:32.360 manufacturers and the benefit managers as part of this lawsuit. 0:04:32.400 --> 0:04:36.000 I trust that, and I'm more than happy to pile 0:04:36.080 --> 0:04:38.760 on and say, yes, this sounds like a good idea. 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.839 We need to go after these guys and say the 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:41.760 taxpayer some money. 0:04:41.800 --> 0:04:43.080 That's what I'm calling you. You were right in the 0:04:43.080 --> 0:04:44.560 coach of Cokannie's doing all the talk and you were 0:04:44.600 --> 0:04:45.839 standing in the background. I like that. 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:46.400 I like that. 0:04:46.480 --> 0:04:48.280 You're going to a look crowdit for standing back there 0:04:48.279 --> 0:04:52.080 and ride the evape trail. She is Denniy's freehouse Hamlet 0:04:52.120 --> 0:04:55.440 County Commissioner. We're talking about the county now jumping on 0:04:55.520 --> 0:04:58.280 the lawsuit bandwag and no cost to the tax payers either, 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:00.880 because there's a contingency basis. They went to the back 0:05:00.920 --> 0:05:03.160 of the proverbial phone book and found lawyers out to 0:05:03.200 --> 0:05:05.040 think out of phillyre somewhere and said, Okay, we're going 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:09.200 to try this as a class and it's Philadelphia. It's also, 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:11.839 as I mentioned, other states are getting involved with us 0:05:11.839 --> 0:05:14.000 as well. I think Hamilton in the first county to 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.920 do this, and they're upset about obviously high insulin prices. 0:05:17.920 --> 0:05:21.239 You need that to live, and the costs of production 0:05:21.920 --> 0:05:24.640 are dwarfed by the cost it actually winds up paying 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.520 by taxpayers and those people who need that medicine to live. 0:05:27.720 --> 0:05:29.800 We're talking one hundred two hundred, three hundred percent mark 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:31.680 up on that, and that is the cause for the 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.520 suit here too. But part of this is how much 0:05:34.520 --> 0:05:37.080 of this is should be at the federal government's feet though, 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:39.760 you know, the opia you mentioned at the onset Denise 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:42.560 about this kind of models the opiate lawsuit. But you know, 0:05:42.600 --> 0:05:44.920 as I recall with opiate, it's one of the big problems, 0:05:45.000 --> 0:05:46.479 was it no one ever addressed was well, you know, 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:50.120 the FDA mandated, the government mandated that pain be treated 0:05:50.160 --> 0:05:53.040 as a fifth vital sign, and so that encouraged the 0:05:53.120 --> 0:05:56.080 over prescription of these things that later the government said, 0:05:56.080 --> 0:05:57.400 well they're bad for you. O. Well, you had a 0:05:57.400 --> 0:05:59.400 hand of that, you drove that. I think the same 0:05:59.400 --> 0:06:01.600 thing is here. You know, the one of the big 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:04.000 problems is patent ever greening. I'm out of here familiar 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:07.120 with that, but the original patents expired a decade ago, 0:06:07.160 --> 0:06:09.440 and what they do is they just slightly reformulated to 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.800 keep the patent alive to make more money. Is that 0:06:11.839 --> 0:06:13.400 something you can be cleaned up by Congress? 0:06:15.320 --> 0:06:17.400 Well, I mean I think we should be tackling this 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:20.680 at all levels, of course, but this one is you know, 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.800 and by the way, we hope to be part of 0:06:23.839 --> 0:06:27.440 a multi jurisdictional litigation that's coming out of New Jersey. 0:06:27.520 --> 0:06:29.760 So that's what this is about. So we are filing 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:32.440 it individually. And if we don't get to be part 0:06:32.480 --> 0:06:36.680 of the multi jurisdiction litification, that's fine, we'll pursue it 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:39.359 on our own. But the idea here, it's much like 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:42.920 the opioids, is to join together with others that are 0:06:42.920 --> 0:06:46.320 doing the same thing to bring down resources to our 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:49.400 local community. If we don't file suit, we miss out. 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:51.360 And why would we do that. I mean, you know 0:06:51.440 --> 0:06:54.240 so because so many others are in and yes, we 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.640 should tackle this at all levels, but we don't want 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.640 Hamilton County to be left out of you know, what's 0:06:59.680 --> 0:07:02.560 happened in many other states and jurisdictions. 0:07:02.960 --> 0:07:05.599 I always go on record, God, I always hate what 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:07.480 politics is doing in this country right now, because it's 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:11.320 so mindless in bottom feeding and my side v your side, 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:13.680 And I'm not alleging you doing that, but I'd go 0:07:13.720 --> 0:07:15.240 back and go you know, this has been a problem 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:17.880 for a long time. Why are we waiting until now 0:07:17.880 --> 0:07:19.760 to address it? Because this has been a problem under 0:07:20.200 --> 0:07:23.840 Republican administrations as well as Democrats. And the lawsuit targets 0:07:23.840 --> 0:07:26.720 PBS and manufactures. But like I said, you know, the 0:07:27.040 --> 0:07:29.880 rebate system we can get into that is the core problem. 0:07:29.880 --> 0:07:32.000 But like I said, you know, whether it's that or 0:07:32.000 --> 0:07:35.120 the patent issue, patent evergreening, or the PBM scheme that 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:40.360 requires legislation to fix, not litigation, what's forcing Congress to 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:42.560 actually do their job here other than going after the 0:07:43.040 --> 0:07:44.960 I guess the people are profiting it from which feels 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:47.800 good and it's very, very populous, But again, it doesn't 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:49.960 address the core issue, and that is government helped create 0:07:49.960 --> 0:07:50.440 this whole thing. 0:07:51.680 --> 0:07:54.240 Well, and I you know, I can't speak to why 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:56.600 the government at the federal level is not acting on this. 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:57.920 I mean I can't speak for them. 0:07:58.120 --> 0:08:00.040 No money is why they're not acting on it. 0:08:00.680 --> 0:08:03.280 Well, well, you know you have to ask them. And 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:05.160 again I'm not going to speak for other people, but 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.960 this litigation out of New Jersey is the prompt here. 0:08:09.240 --> 0:08:12.160 That is the reason for the action. Now there's something 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.160 going on, it's got legs. We want to take advantage 0:08:15.200 --> 0:08:16.600 of that. We want to be part of it. And 0:08:16.640 --> 0:08:19.679 so that from my understanding, and again and prosecutor brought 0:08:19.680 --> 0:08:21.920 this to it, but that is a prompt on by 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:25.360 way of timing, because there's something rolling down the tracks, 0:08:25.600 --> 0:08:27.840 and if we don't jump on and file suit, we 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.240 miss and so we don't want to miss that. So 0:08:30.320 --> 0:08:31.360 the opportunity is now. 0:08:31.600 --> 0:08:33.560 Okay, if you win, though, get what you want in 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:36.080 your fourth lower prices. What's going to prevent these companies 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:37.840 from simply exiting the Ohio market. 0:08:39.960 --> 0:08:40.920 I don't know the answer to that. 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:43.240 I mean, that's a third round. I don't know that 0:08:43.280 --> 0:08:44.840 they will, but that's a third round. Like, hey, if 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:47.400 we can't make money off this, then we're out. We've 0:08:47.400 --> 0:08:50.120 seen that happen elsewhere and I don't know if that 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:52.640 happened here or not, but that's that's pretty sobering. And 0:08:52.640 --> 0:08:54.520 then where you get your diabetes medication. 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:59.800 Well, I'm not suggesting that these companies shouldn't make money. 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.560 We're saying that they shouldn't be colluding with one another 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.360 to jack up prices on taxpayers. That's what we're saying. 0:09:05.480 --> 0:09:07.560 I mean, I am not used to be a small 0:09:07.559 --> 0:09:09.960 business owner, as I've told you before. So you know, 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:12.920 businesses make money. That's fine, they've got their nets, they're 0:09:13.080 --> 0:09:18.280 selling insulin, that's great. But to collude and falsely elevate 0:09:18.360 --> 0:09:21.840 prices is something entirely different. And so that's what we're saying. 0:09:21.880 --> 0:09:24.320 We're not saying they shouldn't make money, and they will 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:26.839 make money, but they shouldn't make as much as they 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:28.400 are by colluding with one another. 0:09:28.520 --> 0:09:31.280 Gotcha, did you guys have to make going into this 0:09:31.360 --> 0:09:35.040 to Connie share with you what the estimate of potential 0:09:35.080 --> 0:09:36.720 recovery is here? How much money? 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:39.600 You know? I asked that question. So I just told 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:43.240 you that we're spending about thirteen million for this cost 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:45.920 of account. It's a lot of money, and so I mean, 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.520 I don't know the answer to that, but if it's 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:52.360 a few millions, that's really meaningful in a budget that's 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:55.319 you know, strained and will be strained last year, it'll 0:09:55.320 --> 0:09:57.760 be strained next year. But any money that we can 0:09:57.800 --> 0:10:00.320 find to help with that is going to be to 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:01.360 our benefits for sure? 0:10:01.480 --> 0:10:03.040 Who would get the money? Does go back in the 0:10:03.080 --> 0:10:06.360 general fund? Does it? Does it go directly towards prescription 0:10:06.480 --> 0:10:08.680 prices and offset with the county pays? Does it go 0:10:08.760 --> 0:10:15.120 to to the Bengals? Where's the money going? Somehow went there? 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:17.040 I think Mike Brown gets a percentage. I don't know 0:10:17.040 --> 0:10:20.000 how this sits. Apparently in the master agreement is. 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.360 Your preoccupation with the bankers? But no, no, it'll go 0:10:23.440 --> 0:10:25.240 into the general fund. And so then we have to 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:28.440 make a decision commissioners. You know, the general fund pays 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:31.360 for the deputies for for nine to one one call takers. 0:10:31.360 --> 0:10:33.600 Are all the things that we've always talked about? Or 0:10:34.360 --> 0:10:36.959 is it a benefit to those that are in the 0:10:37.679 --> 0:10:40.600 benefits system, the healthcare system of the county. And do 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.920 we offer some relief somewhere else for our employees or 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.280 do we put it more towards the general fund for 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:50.520 more general purposes? And that's something we'll have to decide. 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:53.040 Down the road. If this is successful, does that open 0:10:53.080 --> 0:10:55.080 the door for other suits for other things that might 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.360 be expensive? I mean, do you just continue this path? 0:10:58.760 --> 0:11:01.640 I'm not saying it's a bad path, but what open mind. Hey, 0:11:01.640 --> 0:11:03.720 we got money, We're able to fix this. What's next. 0:11:05.120 --> 0:11:07.200 Well, I think we always should be open to an 0:11:07.240 --> 0:11:10.160 opportunity when there's a big suit going on in multi 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:13.360 jurisdiction litigation, I think we should always be open to 0:11:13.440 --> 0:11:15.760 piling on it is worthy, right, if it's worthy of 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:18.640 our attention. Again, we're not paying any money to do 0:11:18.720 --> 0:11:22.000 this right now, it's on a contingent basis, So that's 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.760 the good news for the taxpayers. But yeah, I don't 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:27.920 know why we wouldn't look for opportunities to write size 0:11:27.960 --> 0:11:30.480 things in Hamilton County. But again, you know, I'm not 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.560 the prosecutor, and so the prosecutor's job literally is to 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:36.040 file these actions with the support of the Commission, and 0:11:36.080 --> 0:11:37.120 so that's what we're doing here. 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:39.480 Yeah, yeah, I mean this has been a let's face it, 0:11:39.720 --> 0:11:41.280 back to politics. This has been a talking point for 0:11:41.320 --> 0:11:43.200 Democrats for a long long time. I mean, it used 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:45.240 to be the insulin cost two dollars to make. That's 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:47.920 been thrown around for a long long time. And now 0:11:48.000 --> 0:11:52.240 we're there's action on this. And you know, obviously Democrats 0:11:52.240 --> 0:11:54.760 get hammered on cost of living issues, and now that's 0:11:54.760 --> 0:11:56.439 starting to turn the other way. But you know, I 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:59.360 think this is maybe a populist idea here that has 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.520 some legs, and find out exactly if you can get 0:12:02.559 --> 0:12:06.160 some money back from these companies. I just wonder, why 0:12:06.200 --> 0:12:07.800 don't we just address the route. As you said, that's 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:09.679 outside of your scope as a commissioner. I appreciate and 0:12:09.800 --> 0:12:12.199 understand that. I think we're both frustrated with the system 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.640 the way it is right now, especially with healthcare. I 0:12:14.640 --> 0:12:16.600 don't know if this fixes it, but it does cost 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:19.240 some of that money back, because you know, if you 0:12:19.240 --> 0:12:21.600 need insulin to live and you can't afford it, that's 0:12:21.600 --> 0:12:23.760 a huge problem. And also that thirteen million dollars that 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.000 the county pays, and these are for people who have 0:12:26.040 --> 0:12:28.679 coverage because they work for the county. There's so many 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.760 people that don't. And that's a scary part well. 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.160 And you know, we don't want these companies taking advantage of, 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.160 you know, providing a drug that's life saving to people 0:12:38.160 --> 0:12:42.000 in our community. I mean, it's insulting, I think. And 0:12:42.120 --> 0:12:45.640 so when you particularly when you talk about insulin, because 0:12:45.679 --> 0:12:48.439 it's not like this is some drug that people may 0:12:48.520 --> 0:12:50.760 or may not want to use. This is life saving. 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:53.440 People need the drug and to to collude over the 0:12:53.480 --> 0:12:56.640 prices of insulin, I think is an insult. I really do. 0:12:57.120 --> 0:13:00.400 And so we're holding the companies accountable. I think that's 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.839 what we should do. I think that's what frankly, people 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:05.920 expect of their elected officials. And so, you know what 0:13:06.040 --> 0:13:08.600 we're doing it the time is right. I can't really 0:13:08.600 --> 0:13:11.000 speak to the timing otherwise, but I know that the 0:13:11.040 --> 0:13:13.960 timing is right here to join this suit coming out 0:13:14.000 --> 0:13:16.200 of New Jersey, And so that's what we're doing. 0:13:16.960 --> 0:13:18.480 Do you believe there's a collusion going on or is 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:19.400 that is that a fact? 0:13:19.440 --> 0:13:22.920 Has it been proven that that is what is being alleged. 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:25.840 Yeah, that's a tough one to prove that they're all 0:13:25.880 --> 0:13:27.880 in on this together than saying, hey, it costs what 0:13:28.000 --> 0:13:29.760 a cost. And the way the system is set up 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:33.079 that that those who regulate the system allowed this to occur. 0:13:33.840 --> 0:13:35.480 I think it'd be more of an indictment of the 0:13:35.760 --> 0:13:39.480 of the politic of those again above us in Washington 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:42.360 versus the companies themselves. They've they've got to find a 0:13:42.400 --> 0:13:44.160 way to make money. And it's kind of like you know, 0:13:44.520 --> 0:13:47.760 the cries over you know, billionaires paying too few tax 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.920 as well. Okay, then fix the system, close those loopholes 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:53.240 that you allege are there. That's why are you beating 0:13:53.240 --> 0:13:55.079 down on the people who are smart enough to figure 0:13:55.080 --> 0:13:55.400 that out. 0:13:56.440 --> 0:13:58.600 I agree, But we just talked about the cost of 0:13:58.920 --> 0:14:01.920 producing insulin going down, and yet the cost of buying 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:03.920 it is going up. So there's something going on here. 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:07.200 I think that doesn't make sense, and so I agree 0:14:07.200 --> 0:14:10.240 with you that you know these are broader issues. We 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.120 can do what we can do here in Hamilton County 0:14:12.160 --> 0:14:15.040 to protect the taxpayers here. That's my job and that's 0:14:15.040 --> 0:14:17.600 what we're trying to do. And you know, it's not 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:19.720 as if others don't see what's happening. I mean, five 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.720 hundred and fifty other jurisdictions of files too, So this 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:25.680 is a big movement and certainly people are paying attention. 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:27.960 Yeah, it's on the heels of tobacco. It's on the 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:31.840 heels of the opiate issue as well, and this certainly 0:14:31.840 --> 0:14:34.400 fits into that categories. Like the next thing is affordable 0:14:34.440 --> 0:14:36.880 drugs insulin for crying outline. I mean, there's other drugs 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.320 out there. I think, like you know, the EpiPen thing. 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:42.680 Epinephrine is another in that effects far fewer people than 0:14:43.400 --> 0:14:46.760 than insulin, but I'd imagine if this is successful, that 0:14:46.840 --> 0:14:49.440 might be something that would be explored. It's a life 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:52.160 saving medication that you need. And you know, we heard 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:53.960 that for a long time. It's like, well they only 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:55.840 last I forgot, what is ninety days or six months 0:14:55.920 --> 0:14:58.160 or something like that, and we've got to throw them 0:14:58.160 --> 0:14:59.440 out and get a new one. And it's just simply 0:14:59.480 --> 0:15:01.560 not affordable. We don't heard those crises as much anymore. 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:03.800 There are some I think there were some regulation that's 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:05.440 been done, but you know, there are plenty of drugs 0:15:05.440 --> 0:15:07.160 out there that you could wind up going after as 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:07.720 a result of this. 0:15:09.200 --> 0:15:13.160 Well, that's right, and epiethin's are extremely expensive. So I've 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.720 got some personal experience with one of my relatives, right, 0:15:15.840 --> 0:15:18.360 So yeah, I mean, I agree with you. And let's 0:15:18.360 --> 0:15:21.360 not forget though that the benefit and this is a 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:25.040 little different from the opioid settlement money, but those dollars 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:29.040 that we are investing now because we were successful and 0:15:29.080 --> 0:15:32.880 that lawsuit, are going directly into Hamilton County to save 0:15:33.000 --> 0:15:35.760 lives and get people into treatment. I mean so, and 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:38.560 then it's coming through the foundation at the state level, 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.240 but there are direct payments coming to Hamilton County and 0:15:41.280 --> 0:15:45.760 other jurisdictions in Hamilton County to the benefit of our constituents. 0:15:45.800 --> 0:15:49.280 So this is real. The benefits are real. This is 0:15:49.280 --> 0:15:51.440 a little different because it's going to the general fund, 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:54.280 but those are taxpayer dollars and so you know, I 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:57.520 just don't want to understate that there's a real benefit 0:15:57.640 --> 0:16:01.160 here if we win and there's no cast involved to 0:16:01.240 --> 0:16:04.320 do it, so you know, again, to me, it's just 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:08.880 a win win situation. So yeah, but the benefits can 0:16:08.920 --> 0:16:10.360 be real and seen on the ground. 0:16:10.720 --> 0:16:12.640 Has this fir amount in New Jersey? Have the litigators 0:16:12.640 --> 0:16:15.160 giving you a timeline? No? 0:16:15.240 --> 0:16:17.200 I asked that question too, and you know how attorneys 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:22.840 are They were, oh, yeah, not sure, you know we're 0:16:22.880 --> 0:16:25.920 doing like all right, all right, I get it. So yeah, no, 0:16:26.320 --> 0:16:28.280 I'm you know, I'm not an attorney, and I'm not 0:16:28.360 --> 0:16:29.520 I'm not disappointed by it. 0:16:30.000 --> 0:16:32.240 Yeah right, Well I'm sna. There's plenty attorneys out there, 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:34.240 have some of our good friends of mine, and then 0:16:34.240 --> 0:16:37.320 there's people like yeah, yeah, yeah, I get it, get it. Hey, Denise, 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:39.560 thanks for jumping on this morning. Answer the question certainly 0:16:39.560 --> 0:16:41.640 an interesting perspective. We're going to talk about this a 0:16:41.680 --> 0:16:43.400 little bit behind your back if you don't mind, we'll 0:16:43.400 --> 0:16:45.560 get some calls and from people affected by this and 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.600 you have a wonderful day. Thanks again for jumping on. 0:16:47.880 --> 0:16:49.120 Hey can I ask you something? 0:16:49.160 --> 0:16:49.560 Yes, ma'am. 0:16:49.680 --> 0:16:52.080 Yes, So, I don't know how much time we have, 0:16:52.200 --> 0:16:55.440 but we did do a big dedication yesterday out at 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:59.080 in Bonds Hill for the big building, the Mercy Building 0:16:59.120 --> 0:16:59.320 out there. 0:16:59.440 --> 0:17:02.720 Yes, right right right, yeah, yeah, please go ahead, yeah yeah. 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:05.720 So two days we named the street going up to 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:09.120 the building, Pat McCollum Way. This is a named after 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:11.439 a woman that took in many, many kids in our 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:16.840 community both foster care adoptive care, and was tragically killed 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.359 not so long ago, and so we named the street 0:17:19.400 --> 0:17:22.880 after her because of the nexus with jobs and family services, 0:17:22.920 --> 0:17:25.440 so we wanted to honor her legacy through naming the street. 0:17:25.600 --> 0:17:29.280 But the building itself was owned by Mercy. We now 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.679 have it. It's a consolidation of county services up in 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:37.359 one site, so lots of efficiencies here for jff d D, 0:17:37.720 --> 0:17:41.680 public health, addiction response, environmental services, and veteran services are 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.240 going to be up there. So it's centrally located in 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:47.560 the county. And I just want to say there's free parking. 0:17:48.000 --> 0:17:51.400 There's free parking at this facility. There are a thousand 0:17:51.480 --> 0:17:54.360 spots out there, and so you don't I always hear 0:17:54.400 --> 0:17:56.359 about the cost of parking, how terrible it is to 0:17:56.359 --> 0:17:59.560 come downtown. That is no longer the case, and so 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.080 we're very excited about this. It's accessible to people that 0:18:03.240 --> 0:18:06.960 need that kind of access, particularly veterans. So we're really 0:18:07.040 --> 0:18:10.000 excited about the opening of the building and we dedicated 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:10.720 it yesterday. 0:18:10.800 --> 0:18:12.600 You know, we were texting back and forth. I completely 0:18:12.640 --> 0:18:15.160 forgot because I'm stupid to mention. I'm glad you brought 0:18:15.160 --> 0:18:16.960 that up because I wanted to definitely get a plug 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:18.760 in for that six I think sixty million dollars was 0:18:18.800 --> 0:18:20.960 the cost. Now you also have This is the other 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:22.960 hard part here is this huge levey on the ballot 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.600 for children's services. But loves to revisit that maybe the 0:18:25.640 --> 0:18:27.560 later date, because those two things go together. You got 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:28.760 the building, but now you got a fund. 0:18:29.880 --> 0:18:32.120 Well, the other thing is that we're getting out of 0:18:32.240 --> 0:18:35.280 a bunch of different buildings because of all those departments. 0:18:35.320 --> 0:18:37.760 We're in different buildings all over the city and so 0:18:37.960 --> 0:18:40.240 as we just like the alms and depky Downtown is 0:18:40.280 --> 0:18:42.280